


The Prince of the Kingdom Under the Lake

by Queen_of_Camelot (The_Lady_in_the_Red_Cape)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Meet-Cute, MerMay, Merman and human fall in love, Merman!Arthur, beutiful relationship, cute adorable, merman au, merman-human interaction, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24527299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lady_in_the_Red_Cape/pseuds/Queen_of_Camelot
Summary: Merlin meets a charming merman called Arthur Pendragon in the Lake of Avalon. He claims to be the Prince of an underwater kingdom called Camerlot. Is he being honest, or is he making this whole thing up?Merlin decides to find out.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 115
Collections: MERLIN, Merlin, Merlin Fanfiction, Merlin Fics to Reread, Merthur Fics, Merthur fics, merthur fics





	The Prince of the Kingdom Under the Lake

The Lake of Avalon had always been Merlin’s favorite spot to relax after a long day.

The soft lapping of the water, the chirping of birds and the reflection of the setting sun just dissipated all the stress of the day from his body. Merlin sat in the peaceful calm of the evening, admiring the lake from the shore.

And then one day, he saw a disturbance in the placid water.

It might sound insane, but Merlin could have sworn that he saw a fish tail similar to that of a whale's, but smaller in size, flapping at the surface of the water in the distance. The boy jumped to his feet and walked closer. The presence of such a huge fish had never been noticed in the lake. 

Merlin inched closed and closer to the edge of the land, his eyes transfixed on the spot where he had seen the tail disappear. The water was calm again, with no sign of the creature.

One careless step, and there was a loud splash. Merlin had fallen into the water. Now, that wouldn’t be a problem, if the young man knew how to swim.

 _But he didn’t._  


Merlin thrashed around, trying to reach the surface again. But all his efforts were futile, and he just kept sinking to the bottom. The sunlight grew dimmer and dimmer, as he drowned deeper. His lungs burned, begging for oxygen. Slowly, his consciousness was slipping away, and his struggling arms and legs began to still, as his body gave in and his eyes closed.

When he was on the verge of passing out, he vaguely felt two strong arms grabbing him by the waist and pulling him up. His eyes fluttered open, and were met with the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. 

It was a man, but not just an ordinary one. Eyes like sapphire stones stared back at Merlin. Golden hair floated around his face. Lips like rose petals parted on seeing the sorcerer. Merlin looked down to see the tail that had distracted him on the shore. A tail, covered in silky, brilliant blue scales, flapped around in the water, pushing them both away from the lake bed.

But Merlin had drowned too deep, and bringing him back to the shore took longer than he could manage with the limited oxygen in his lungs. His eyes began closing again, and before he knew it, he was unconscious.

_ _ _

Merlin coughed. He coughed again.

He opened his eyes and squinted. It was too dark to see clearly. The moon shined in the sky. He heard a cricket chirping in he distance.

He sat up, wincing when the dead weight of his wet clothes pulled him down. The Lake of Avalon lay before him, calm and still.

Merlin tried to recall what had happened, but all he could remember was being rescued by a handsome merman.

_ _ _

Merlin went back to the lake the next evening, with the intention of seeing the merman again. He stood on the shore, contemplating his next move.

What he did next, might have been the most senseless thing a sane person would have done in that situation. He jumped into the water.

As soon as the lake engulfed him and pulled him down, he regretted what he did. What if the merman was not in the vicinity? What if he wasn’t noble enough to save Merlin for the second time? What if the merman was just a figment of Merlin’s fantasy? Oh, well. . . 

Just as he was beginning to lose hope (and consciousness), he felt a familiar embrace wrap around him. He was quickly pulled to the surface and taken to the shore.

Coughing and spluttering, Merlin crawled to the land and collapsed onto the soft grass. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. He stayed like that for a few minutes, trying to calm down his racing heart. Once his breathing rate was back to normal, he opened his eyes and sat up.

Right in front of him, was the merman, leaning on the edge of the land on his elbows; his lower half still in the water. Merlin stared, speechless.

“What's your name?”, the merman asked. His voice was just like a human’s, and he spoke their language.

Merlin was thrown off by his abrupt question. “Ugh, I’m Merlin.”

“You really are an _idiot_ , aren’t you, _Merlin_?”, the merman asked, his annoyance shown in his tone. “That’s the second time I saved you from drowning, in a span of _two days_.”

Merlin winced at the harsh comment. “Well, thanks for that, but that doesn’t give you any right to be rude, prat!”

The merman glared at him. “That’s ‘ _my lord_ ’ to you.”, he growled.

Merlin scoffed. “Why? Are you the king?”

"No, I’m his son, _Arthur_.”, he spat.

Merlin blinked. “I’m pretty sure the king’s son is called Edward, and he, sure as hell, is not a merman.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “No, _you idiot_. I’m talking about Camerlot.”

“You mean _Camelot_. That’s where we are right now.”

Arthur groaned in frustration. “ _Camerlot_ is the kingdom of the merpeople of the Lake of Avalon. Uther Pendragon is the king. I’m his son, Arthur Pendragon.”

“Oh. . .”, Merlin said. This was all too much to take in. _Camerlot? Merpeople? Prince Arthur?_

Some big part of him told Merlin that Arthur was making this up and messing with him. And there was only one way to find out.

"I want to see your kingdom.”, Merlin said.

“Unless you want to die from water filling your lungs, that is not advisable.”

Prince Prat was right. Merlin had to find a spell that will let him breathe and talk underwater. That was not going to be easy. . . 

Merlin’s thoughts disappeared when he saw Arthur’s tail slightly flapping in the water behind him. Without realizing what he was saying, Merlin blurted out, _“I love your tail.”_

“Oh. Ugh. . . Thanks.”, Arthur said, going a bit red.

“Can I. . .”, Merlin asked hesitantly, “ _Can I touch it?_ ”

Arthur’s face was unfathomable. Was he creeped out? Was he interested? Was he going to jump back into the water and never come to see to Merlin again? The sorcerer didn’t know.

“Fine.”, Arthur finally said, “But only if you let me touch. . . _those_.”, he said, pointing at Merlin’s feet. 

Merlin snorted. “ _Those_ , are called feet.”, he said, quickly pulling off his boots. He slowly moved his feet closer to where Arthur’s hands were resting on the ground. 

Arthur nervously touched Merlin’s toe with his index finger. It was adorable to see someone so enthralled by one's _feet_. 

He tentatively added more fingers and finally began running them all over Merlin’s sole. The boy giggled. 

“What?”, Arthur asked. 

“Nothing. It just. . . _It tickles_.”

Arthur smiled. “Humans have ticklish feet, huh?”

“Some of us do.”, Merlin replied, grinning. “Now my turn.”

The end of Arthur’s tail flopped onto the land. Merlin touched the tip, and glided his fingers along the smooth scales. Arthur giggled.

“So merpeople have ticklish tails?”, Merlin asked, amused by the way the prince was smiling and gently swatting at his hand.

“ _Some of us do._ ”

They just kept touching each other’s tail and feet, like it was the most normal thing to do. 

And then, out of the blue , Arthur asked. “You think I’m a freak, don’t you?” Merlin raised his eyebrows, and Arthur shrugged. “Half-human, half-fish, and all that. . .”

He sounded sad, as if he already knew what the reply was going to be. Merlin felt a pang of pity tug at his heart. But then he smiled and said, “You think _you’re_ a freak? Watch this.”

He closed his fist in front of him and muttered an incantation. His eyes flashed gold. When he opened his fist, three glowing butterflies flew out.

Arthur gasped, his eyes following the butterflies as they fluttered away. _“You have magic!_ ”, he exclaimed in awe.

“I was born with it.”, Merlin replied, smiling. “And I’m going to use it to find a way to breathe underwater, so I can see your kingdom.”

Arthur smiled, “Well, until then, goodbye, Merlin.”, he said, grinning. Then he fell backwards into the water and swam away, leaving behind ripples in the water and warmth in Merlin’s heart.

_ _ _

It had been a week since Merlin met Arthur. He had thoroughly searched his every book on sorcery for a spell that allows humans to breathe underwater. His attempts were fruitless. 

But then, finally, _finally_ , he found a spell. It was complicated, but it could have the exact effects Merlin wanted. The sorceror immediately fetched a huge tub of water and muttered the spell. Hesitantly, he dipped in his face and took a deep breath. His lungs filled with fresh oxygen. Not a single drop of water entered his nostrils. Hoping that he was not asking for too much, Merlin opened his mouth to see if he could talk, too. “ _Arthur_. . .”, he said. (He had no idea why that was the first thing that came to his mind.) His voice sounded a little distorted, but not so much that it was unrecognizable. This spell was perfect!

Merlin rushed to the lake. He muttered the spell and jumped into the water. Apparently the spell had also given him the ability to swim, because he wasn’t drowning.

This time, Arthur didn’t waste even a few seconds before he appeared and grabbed Merlin, muttering, “ _For heaven’s sake!_ ” and began pulling him up, but Merlin stopped him, saying, “It worked.”

Arthur’s lips parted in surprise, and then immediately broke into a huge grin. “ _It worked!_ ”, he said, his face glowing in joy. Merlin was smiling, too. It’s kind of impossible not to when Arthur was beaming at you.

“Umm. . .”, Merlin said, looking at Arthur’s arms that were still wrapped tightly around his waist.

“Oh, sorry.”, Arthur said, blushing. 

“It’s fine.”, Merlin said with a shy smile.  


Arthur took his hand. “Tell me, Merlin. . .”, he said, grinning, “Are you ready to see the most powerful underwater kingdom in the world?”

Merlin laughed. “ _Of course.”_

_ _ _

Camerlot was magnificent. The underwater palace, the acquatic plants and the merpeople were all so fascinating that Merlin couldn’t peel his eyes away from his surroundings.

Arthur’s family was sweet. His father seemed a little cold and distant, but he welcomed Merlin to his kingdom all the same. Arthur’s sister, Morgana was unbelievable friendly and jovial, and so was her maid, Gwen. They all had tails of different splendid colours, and wore stunning floral crowns. They had dazzling accessories adorning their ears and necks. The mermaids had an extremely soothing voice that flowed like honey. But the thing that Merlin loved about Camerlot the most, was the way people respected everyone, regardless of their differences. When Merlin showed them his magic, it was met with awe and wonder, instead of shock and hostility.

Merlin didn’t want to leave. But eventually, he realized that he had to. Gaius would be waiting for him at home. He couldn’t just stay in a lake, with a man he had just met _(and was rapidly growing fond of_ ).

“It’s getting late. I must leave.”, Merlin told Arthur.

“Oh. Yeah. Of course. . .”, Arthur muttered, with a touch of disappointment to his voice. “You will. . . You will be coming back some time, right?”

Merlin smiled. “ _Definitely_.”

Arthur returned the smiled. Before Merlin began swimming back to the surface, Arthur caught his hand. He leaned in and placed a kiss on Merlin’s cheek. The sorcerer blushed. 

“What was that for?”, he asked.

" _For today_.”, Arthur replied, just a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

_ _ _

As Merlin walked back home, dripping wet and shivering in the cold, he ironically felt very light-headed and warm inside. 

Everything was going to be the same. He would work hard all day, come to the Lake of Avalon every evening and watch the place magically drain his stress and tension.

_The only difference this day made, was that he was no longer going to just sit on the shore._  



End file.
